Tiger Shroff on Student of the Year 2: We are trying to graduate with flying colours

Asserts Tiger Shroff about the upcoming Punit Malhotra-directed SOTY sequel, reveals to having bought an eight-bedroom apartment for his family

It’s been a year of new beginnings for Tiger Shroff. The 28-year-old actor snipped off his Samson locks, settling for a short crop for the Baaghi sequel, his first film with steady date Disha Patani, bought a sprawling eight-bedroom apartment in Khar and launched a gym with sister Krishna. Speaking about his new home, he says, “I bought the house for my family and we will move in once it’s ready, maybe in a year or so.”

On the film front, Tiger has just wrapped up Punit Malhotra’s Student of the Year sequel with debutantes, Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria and is all praise for both. “They are fantastic, great coactors!” he says. “And given the way they work, it seems like they have been around for years,” he adds, going on to shower compliments on producer Karan Johar, director Punit Malhotra and DoP Ravi Chandran for the way they have mounted the film. “Punit sir is young, he knows how to tell the story and that makes the lives of the actors easier.”

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who has produced both Janhvi Kapoor's debut Dhadak and Sara Ali Khan's second feature Simmba, says it is "unfair" to compare the two young actors.

The actor asserts that he loved the original and the earlier students, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan. “We are not trying to replace them, just trying to graduate with flying colours, like them,” he smiles. The new trio recently shot a song with Hollywood star Will Smith when he was on a trip to India in October. Choreographed by Remo D’souza, it was shot in a day. “Shooting with Will sir was fun, the song will be a treat for the audience when it releases,” he promises.

Tiger’s among the hits this year with Baaghi 2 and is ready to take the franchise forward with part three once the story is in place. “I know there are huge expectations, the team is working day and night to find the right script as we have to take Baaghi several notches higher,” points out the actor who had already kicked off his dream project with idol Hrithik Roshan. “It’s one of my most challenging films. It’s such a high to watch Hrithik sir work, being in the same frame as him. He’s my hero, someone I’ve admired all my life. Whenever I watch the playbacks, I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

Mirror (September 20) had recently reported that Tiger is also set to make his Hollywood debut after several meetings with Lawrence Kasanoff, producer of the Mortal Kombat series. Siddharth Anand’s Rambo remake is also on the cards. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about these films right now. All I can say is that Rambo will start after Baaghi 3, I don’t know exactly when,” he says. Meanwhile, the actor who is big on sport and fitness has launched his own gym. “Since my debut film, Heropanti, released, I’ve had a lot of kids and youngsters, including their mothers coming up to me and asking me where I trained so they could also enrol there. I had no answer since I used to train at Juhu beach with random boys. I’ve had different instructors on an off all my life but I wanted to do something in martial arts, if I were accepted by the industry. My sister is also into MMA so teaming up with her was the perfect idea,” he says, adding that he can now be found at his workout zone when he’s not shooting.

Tiger has often been spotted with Disha on casual outings and at Bollywood galas. Even before we can complete the question, Tiger is off. Ah well!

I know there are huge expectations, the team is working day and night to find the right script as we have to take Baaghi several notches higher

Even while Kriti Sanon is gearing up for four releases next year - Laxman Utekar’s Luka Chuppi with Kartik Aaryan, Rohit Jugraj’s Arjun Patiala with Diljit Dosanjh, Farhad Samji’s Housefull 4 with Akshay Kumar and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Panipat with Arjun Kapoor, there are a few things that she would want to learn amidst her busy schedule.